


Dreams

by red_pandas_and_books



Category: Fablehaven Series - Brandon Mull
Genre: Comfort, Dreams, Identity loss, Learning about the past, Manipulation, Memory Loss, Throwback to all the books really, Throwback to book one, Unexpected friends, dragonwatch spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-13
Updated: 2018-12-07
Packaged: 2019-08-23 06:04:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16613324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/red_pandas_and_books/pseuds/red_pandas_and_books
Summary: Despite losing his identity, Seth's dreams are haunted by vague memories of people and places he can't quite recall.





	1. Chapter 1

_The lights Seth knew were shining were warped and moving, making it hard to see through the glass, or maybe it was just his eyes. They were dry and heavy; his vision was blurred as he tried to make sense of what was happening around him._

_He tried it push on the glass to see if it would budge, but he felt so tired just lifting his hand up. He gasped, heart speeding up as he stared at his withered hand as it slightly shook. It was sagging with the weight of folded skin, barely clinging to his bones. His head spun as eyes flitted around the room even more desperately in a search to understand what was happening._

_The glass in front of him was all around him. He was encased in a jar filled with sticks and leaves. A slug crept along the side of the jar, moving towards him. He ignored it to peer out at the chaos around him._

_Blurry imps battled fairies and were losing. Seth was trying to figure out which side he should be on when his limited view was obstructed._

_There was a silhouette in front of him, reaching their hand over his. He couldn't make out what the figure said and before he could ask, they moved to the side. Another figure replaced them._

_It was a fairy. Taller than him, she had red hair that seemed to shine and large dragonfly wings._

_The two of them stared at each other, observing. He knew her and she knew him. Everything else seemed to fall away as he looked into her eyes, awaiting her judgment. She finally narrowed her eyes at him, raised a hand, and snapped. The glass around him shattered. In the back of his mind he wondered what happened to the slug as the fairy drifted towards him. Her gaze was merciful as she gently took his head in her hands. He bowed his head and felt her kiss his forehead._

_His skin tightened, his back straightened, and his vision cleared. He felt hair grow on his head, and turned to thank his savior when something was shoved into his hand. It was a bottle of milk. The silhouette was back and prompted him to drink it. He was confused. Didn't they know he didn't need it?_

 

Seth shot up in his bed with a roar still ringing in his ears. He gasped for breath, adrenaline coursing through his body. He threw his hand up in front of him and sighed in relief when it appeared normal. He inspected it closely as he calmed down. There were no liver spots, no wrinkles. There were some scars, none of them he remembered. He idly rubbed one on the pad of his thumb with his forefinger, as he looked around his room.

He stiffened as he looked at the door, remembering the glass jar and suddenly feeling like he was suffocating. He tried to breathe deeply, counting his exhales as... someone had taught him to. He wasn't in any danger. He could leave the room whenever he wanted, even if Ronodin had told him he shouldn't wander the halls. 

Thinking of his brother helped him relax a little bit. Ronodin would want him to get some sleep. The first few weeks he'd been back here after his memory loss were awful as Ronodin hardly needed sleep and Seth desperately did. Now, Ronodin was adamant that Seth get sleep so he could practice better during their training sessions. 

Seth laid back down on his bed and tried to relax. He adjusted himself several times trying to get comfortable. He ended up on his side, hand under the pillow clutching the rock Ronodin had given him to communicate with him. It had surprised his master that Seth had asked for a rock to imbue with his magic rather than an amulet as offered, but something about it felt familiar. It was especially comforting to sleep with it under his pillow each night, especially in his rather bare room. 

It brought little comfort tonight though as Seth let the weight anchor his hand down. He tried not to mull over his dream and the confines of the jar and the sagging of his skin and the accusing stare of the fairy. He tried desperately to think of his lesson earlier that day as he had practiced shadow walking in lighter conditions with Ronodin. 

A quiet knock on the doorway pulled Seth out. He looked to the door to see Ronodin standing there, hands behind his back, a small, understanding smile on his face. 

"You called for me," he said simply at Seth's face. Seth hurried to sit up, pulling the stone into his lap to hold.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you come here." Seth was mortified, embarrassed. "It was just a nightmare and holding the stone helped me feel better." Seth felt even more trapped with Ronodin in the doorway and was trying to keep calm. 

Ronodin seemed to pick up on this, glancing at the stone in Seth's hands. He titled his head, gesturing out into the hallway. "Why don't we go for a walk?" 

 

 

Seth walked next to Ronodin as they walked along the top of a gully, a small stream trickling on the bottom. The open air calmed Seth down a lot, and he resisted the impulse to grab the stone that lay in his pajama pocket. 

Ronodin broke the silence first. "What was your nightmare about?"

Seth shrugged. "It seems silly now. I was old, really old, and I was trapped in this jar. There were leaves and sticks in it like you would put a praying mantis or a spider in. I couldn't see very well, but it looked like there were giant imps and fairies fighting. Someone came up to me, I don't know who, and then a fairy came up and broke the glass. She kissed me, and I turned back to normal. The other person gave me some milk so I could see. I tried to explain I already could, but this really loud roar woke me up." 

Seth couldn't bring himself to look at Ronodin. The whole dream sounded ridiculous, exactly the kind of hodgepodge Seth might get from a normal dream. It didn't explain why it felt so _real_ though. Maybe...

"Do you think it's a memory?" Ronodin asked after a pause. Seth thought about it. 

"Maybe," he said, hesitantly. "It would explain why I was really scared and why I can't say where it happened or who any of the people there were. What do you think?" 

Ronodin hummed. "I can't say what it is for sure, but I'm sure we can safely assume it's pieces of a memory." 

He shrugged. 

"I don't know all of your memories and experiences, so I can't say for sure if it is one. It seems likely though, and I think you already know whether it is or not." 

Seth thought about it. It was like the entire dream had a filter over it so he couldn't distinguish any of the details. The sensation of being old was fading rapidy, and the claustrophobia was gone as soon as they left his room. The only thing that he could remember, really remember, was the fairy. She knew him, and he knew her. She was fascinating as only a fairy really could be.

He could remember the sensation as she kissed him and he changed back. It was like a thousand different smells and sounds had all come rushing at once. He had smelled the ocean, the scent of a blooming rose, the pattering of rain on leaves, the whisper of wings as they glided through the air. It reminded him of scraped knees, a small fairy statue, a field, and a man helping him stand...

"Seth, my brother, remember." Ronodin interrupted his thoughts as he turned to him, expression serious. "You chose to have that identity erased from you. You were the one who made that conscious choice. Those memories are best left in the past; don't let them become a distraction. If you keep having these dreams, come to me and I'll help you." 

Seth nodded. It was best just to forget about the fairy. Right now was more important. 

Ronodin smiled at him. "Let's get you back to bed." 

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kendra is trying to deal with nightmares of her own and has an unexpected conversation with a rival.

_Familiar trees surrounded her, heavy-laden with fruit. All sorts of colors glistened under the clear sky. Everything seemed to grab her attention, it was all so beautiful. The sky was clear and offered a pale blue background to the sight before her. Kendra stood on a wide path in the middle of a large grove. Trees of all colors and varieties invited her to take some of their fruit. A tree with large, flat pink leaves let small silver fruit peak out at her. A tree with a striped trunk boasted neon orange fruit that looked like pears. Every tree beckoned and enticed._

_She inhaled deeply. The scent was intoxicating. It felt like there was something missing, something she should be remembering, bu that didn't matter right now. What mattered was the delicious-smelling light purple fruit that hung on the tree she walked towards._

_She was about to step off the path, but hesitated. She could feel something was wrong, something told her to stay on the path, but couldn't quite place her finger on what it was. The fruit taunted her, practically begging her to just sample it. If she didn't like it, she could just try some other fruit. She didn't even need to leave the path! She could reach it if she just leaned forward a little bit. She reached her hand towards a piece of fruit that hung a couple of feet away hesitantly._

_"Kendra."_

_She froze, hand still outstretched. She knew that voice. It was a voice she'd been craving, desperate to hear._

_Bracken was there when she turned. He was in the grove, standing next to a tree with navy blue bark just off the other side of the path. All of her senses seemed to be heightened as she stared into his eyes. The trees were sweeter and the colors brighter, but the appeal of the fruit paled in comparison with him._

_This must have been what she'd been missing. Yes, this had to be it._

_He smiled warmly at her as she ran to him. His smile turned mischievous and playful as he winked at her._

_"Catch me if you can, Kendra."_

_He darted back into the trees and she gave chase. She followed him as he weaved between trees. She had no idea where the path was, and it didn't matter anymore. He was where she was supposed to go._

_Her hands reached for him as she got closer, but he kept dodging her. He looked over his shoulder, teasing her. "If you catch me, I'll give you a surprise."_

_Kendra huffed and sprung at him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. They laughed as she almost knocked them to the ground. Though she'd been short of breath before, Kendra felt like all her energy returned as he adjusted them and turned to face her. It had been so long._

_Bracken held her face in his hands, a gentle smile on his face. He leaned in and Kendra's breath caught as she realized what prize he'd meant. "You've earned this," she heard his voice say in her head, and she believed him. She relaxed and leaned into the kiss, letting her lips meet his._

_Suddenly, he wasn't there anymore._

_She stumbled forward, looking around for him. The trees were menacing and twisted. Their colors hurt and the sweet perfume smelled like rot._

_"The dirt," Kendra remembered. "I forgot to put dirt in my nose."_

_Voices accused her from the trees._

_"You left us, Kendra."_

_"How could you choose to live forever and leave us behind?"_

_"You let us die while you lived on."_

_"Why did you choose to let us go?"_

_The trunks opened up one by one to reveal family members and friends laying in them like coffins. The sky turned dark as Kendra started hyperventilating as more and more of her loved ones were revealed. Her parents. Her cousins. Her school friends. People she'd met on missions. Creatures and people that worked at Wyrmroost whom she'd begun to love. Her grandparents._

_A hand grabbed her shoulder from behind._

_Kendra was spun around to see Seth. His eyes were dark, and he was practically skin and bones. Darkness oozed from him and seemed to cover everything._

_He whispered, but it seemed to drown everything else out._

_"Why did you leave me, Kendra? Why did you let them take me and use me? Why didn't you protect me? Why didn't you save me? At least you remember who you are. Why didn't you save me?"_

_Seth's hand stopped Kendra from moving as she tried to back away. She looked around for an escape path. The people in the trees started rising up and shuffling towards her. She turned in terror to Seth only to see a skeleton._

_Him and the people around her dissolved into dust and a wind picked up, circling her and keeping her encased in a whirlwind of dust. Kendra huddled down and covered her head as the wind whipped her hair and the dust grazed her exposed skin. Kendra tucked her face down in her t shirt and held it with her hand to keep the dust and the smell out._

_Whispers kept asking her why she got to live and they had to die. The wind roared in her ears, and she heard the faint sound of laughter. It sounded familiar, and she couldn't quite put her finger on who it was._

_"Seth is mine, o handmaiden."_

 

Kendra opened her eyes, blinking slowly. The sounds of the laughter were fading as she tried to remember them. Kendra knew she knew the voice, but couldn't remember who it was. Kendra felt frustration grow and fade as she realized she wasn't sure if the voice she'd heard was the one who actually had Seth though. 

Kendra gently released her fists from where they'd been clenching the blanket. Her hands were sore and stiff, and she rolled off of her side to sit up on the side of the bed. 

The alarm clock on the side table read 1:17. She groaned. There was no way she'd be able to get back to sleep anytime soon, and she didn't want to. The images of Bracken and Seth in her head made her heart hurt, and the guilt of betraying and leaving her loved ones behind was still poignant. 

Her mind was busy pouring over her dream as she carefully got up out of bed. She walked over and grabbed a jacket on back of her vanity chair. She tucked her hands in the pockets and left to clear her head of thoughts of eternity. 

 

 

 

Kendra ended up at the Perch. She'd walked around for a while, moving quietly so she wouldn't wake anyone. She'd walked by a couple of guards, including the dwarf who was supposed to be watching the sky for dragons. He'd been fast asleep and looked like he needed it. She recalled that last week his cousin had been killed by trolls while keeping tabs on a settlement. His death also meant that the others would have to spend more time keeping watch until she could find more help. She let him sleep for now. Kendra would keep an eye out while she was out there. 

Now she stood at the tower where the caretaker was supposed to converse with dragons. Recently, the only dragon she'd really communicated with was Raxtus, but he wasn't even on the preserve. There hadn't been any dragons at the Perch since Celebrant declared war on the caretakers. 

The stone was cold under her bare feet and her breath came up in a cloud around her face. Kendra was seriously regretting not bringing slippers, but decided to welcome the pain. It matched the way she was feeling inside. At least she'd brought a jacket. 

Kendra lowered herself to the ground at the center of the Perch. She couldn't see very well over the battlements from her position, but she could see the stars and the twin peaks rising above the wall. 

The sky filled her view. There were so many stars here, even if half of them were obstructed by clouds. She wondered if Seth and Bracken could see the stars too. Her heart seemed to ache more. 

It ached for Bracken, who'd spent centuries away from the sky and the trees and nature, and now was probably locked up away from them again. He'd spent not even a year with his family and friends, only to go back to some cell somewhere. Kendra tried not to think about what Ronodin might have done to him. 

Her heart ached for Seth who had no idea who he was under the night sky somewhere. Who might look up at the stars and not know the names of any of the constellations. She could remember weekends when their parents would sleep with them in the backyard and list off constellations they knew. Their dad had printed off sheets of what they looked like to compare it to the sky. Her parents had bickered for a while about whether a particular group of stars really was Cancer or if it was somewhere else. Eventually, they just sat back and made up their own constellations. Her eyes started to burn as she realized that Seth wouldn't remember any of that. 

She saw a dragon flying in the direction towards the keep. She stayed where she was. Even though they were officially at war, the dragons hadn't done much in the way of fighting besides the occasional runs to see if anyone was off the paths. There wasn't much else they could do now that their way of making the barrier fall was closed to them. 

The stars drew her attention in again and she looked at the ones she could see behind clouds. There were so many of them, there for so long. If she became an Eternal, she would be like a star, watching the world and still there as her loved ones died and moved on. 

 _Not all of them_ , a voice in her head whispered as she thought of Bracken. 

The dragon was getting closer; it looked like it was angling straight towards her. Kendra wondered if she should move to be inside the protection of the keep. The dragons had yet to attack the perch since Seth had put the tower up, but technically anywhere that had previously been "neutral" space was now a free for all since the dragons declared war. 

The dragon glinted in the moonlight. Its scales looked like they were made of platinum. Kendra's throat tightened.  _Celebrant._ This might definitely be the time to move to safety. She really regretted not waking the guard before. 

Kendra slowly rose to her feet as he approached. They hadn't really spoken since the solstice, and it looked like he was alone. Kendra looked side to side, no one was up here with her and with the guard at the horn asleep, if Celebrant ate her, they would have no idea what happened. But if she ran to cover, she would look weak. 

The Dragon King slowed his flight enough to land gently on the ground next to the Perch. He regarded her coolly. Kendra could have rolled her eyes. If he'd come all this way and approached her, he must've had something to say.  

"How's the weather up there?" 

He glowered at her. She stared right back. 

"There was no horn signalling my arrival, or did you wish your death to be a private affair?" 

Kendra shrugged. "With the way this war of yours has been going on, I kind of have to go out of my way to give you some cheap shots."

Celebrant hissed at her, nostrils flaring. Kendra smelt something acidic, probably one of his breath weapons. 

"I think you've finally lost your mind, mouse," he sneered. "Taunting me so will gain you no mercy."

Kendra finally did roll her eyes. "I don't want any mercy from you. I don't really want anything from you unless it involved accepting Raxtus." 

Celebrant's head reeled back in fury. " _Accepting Raxtus?_ He betrayed me!" 

"You betrayed him many times before!" Kendra shot back, angry too. "All he wanted was your approval and support, but all you've ever done is turn him away. His choices and path were sealed long before his choice was known to you, and it wasn't because of me. You were the one who only took him when you needed him, but he was defending your name long before that."  

Celebrant stared at her. Kendra's fists were clenched, and she slowly released them, flexing them as the soreness from earlier returned. She ignored the dragon, turning her side to him, and sitting back down on the Perch, surveying the night. 

A deep sigh reverberated from where he sat. She heard him move, and turned in shock as his head rested next to her on the Perch. He closed his eyes and just laid there. Kendra looked over at his body. His neck was resting over the battlements and couldn't have been comfortable, yet he stayed. The right side of his face was next to her, head facing the same way she faced. He was so close she could have reached out and touched him. 

They stayed like that for a while, in comfortable silence. She thought of this ancient being next to her. He would know what it would be like to live for a long time. Yet, for all of his years, he still couldn't accept back the son who'd spent so many years devoted and loyal. Kendra eventually spoke up. 

"Raxtus was the one who killed Navarog, you know." 

Celebrant looked at her sharply, eye open and fixed on her. He scoffed, rolling said eye. There was a slight rumbling as his body adjusted itself. 

"Granted, he was in human form and didn't even know Raxtus was there, but he still ate him." 

"When was this?" 

Kendra thinks back. "Almost a year ago. Navarog came in with our party of people in his human avatar. He revealed himself when dragons attacked us and corned me in Sidestep Cleft. Raxtus snuck up behind him and ate him when he started talking about how you were nothing compared to him." 

The Dragon King hummed, shaking the Perch a little. He didn't say anything else and neither did Kendra. Eventually, Celebrant rose with a sigh, shaking his wings a bit before drawing himself to full height. 

Kendra stood with him and inclined her head towards him. Celebrant almost seemed to smile before he took off and flew away.

 

 

 

The next morning, Kendra woke to her grandmother gently calling her name. She rolled over and stretched, a smile on her face. She felt so relaxed and content. Her smile only widened at her Grandma Sorenson's face shifting from concern to disbelief. Her grandmother put up a cautious smile which almost made Kendra laugh. 

"You didn't get up with your alarm, so I came to check on you. Did you have a good night's rest?"

Kendra sat up, pushing her covers back and thinking back to the night before. It had been a daze getting back to her room. She was pretty sure the guard would be in her service forever. When she'd woken him up and told him she wouldn't tell anyone if he didn't, he'd almost fallen to the ground in thanks. By the time, she'd gotten back to her room, she was dead on her feet and had fallen asleep at soon as her head touched the pillow. 

She smiled at her grandma. "Yes, I did have a good night." 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a nightmare from Kendra! I didn't think I would do one with her at all, but this came to me at like 2 am. I loved it and decided to put it in. No promises on whether or not we'll see another one from her though.  
> I'm so excited to further the relationships between Kendra and other characters though, especially ones we've seen in the first series already. < br/>  
> Listen, I know that a friendship between Celebrant and Kendra is pretty unreasonable, but I don't care; I love it and I want it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there's going to be scenes from both Seth's and Kendra's POVs. I think Seth may get more because it's really fun to play with his memories. Rather, the lack thereof.

"This is an unicorn horn." Ronodin held the two foot long horn carefully in his hands, almost reverently. The horn almost shimmered in the torch light of the lab. It had been on the middle table of the lab in preparation for their lesson when Seth had walked in, but he had no idea where it was normally stored. 

Seth was a little skeptical of this particular lesson. Ronodin did say that it was important, and Seth believed him, but he wasn't quite sure what would be so interesting about the _fairy_ kingdom. He was even more convinced his initial suspicions about it were correct now that they were entering into the third hour of the lesson. 

"Unicorns are typically creatures of purity and light. Their horns can purify and cleanse just about anything. They also harbor most of a unicorn's power. If you take away and sever the connection a unicorn has with it's horn, it looses much of what makes it a unicorn. This is even more true with it's final horn. Losing that means a unicorn is resigned to it's human avatar. How many horns does a unicorn have again, Seth?"

"Three," he answered. "The final horn is permanent." 

Ronodin nodded. "Typically, yes. I know of only one unicorn that gave up their third horn--"

"The Font of Immortality."

His mentor appraised him. "Very good, Seth." Ronodin set the horn down on the table next to him and turned back to Seth. "Do you remember when we covered that?" 

Seth thought for a moment. "No." 

A nod from his brother. "I don't remember teaching it to you recently. It's probably from before. Now it should be expected that you wold remember some details of your previous life, as we discussed last week. Have you had any more dreams?" 

Seth shifted. "Not really any that I can remember, and nothing sticks out." 

A thoughtful hum from Ronodin. He opened his mouth a couple of times before he spoke again. 

"Do... do you happen to know the name of the unicorn who gave up their horn?" 

Seth thought hard. He didn't recall meeting any unicorns aside from his brother, in their human avatars or not. Granted, he may have met one and not known about it. 

He shook his head. 

Ronodin sighed. "A good thing for now." He snorted. "Most unicorns are so self-righteous and pompous. I'd like to put off you meeting the rest of them for as long as we can." 

He waved his hand at Seth. "That's all we're going to do for today. I have a project I need to work on. Go practice with the wraiths." 

 

 

By the time he'd finished practicing slipping by the wraiths, the latest of his shade walking exercises, Seth was exhausted. The wraiths were draining to be around, and they made him feel negative. Whenever he was around them, he felt like that fairy was back, just out of reach, measuring him up and evaluating all of his choices. It felt like no matter what he did, he was stuck in a glass jar being examined. 

He locked the door behind him as he went into his room and set his lamp on the desk next to his bed. Pretty soon he wouldn't need a key at all, as Ronodin was going to be introducing him to someone who could help him learn certain abilities better, including lock picking. Seth was particularly excited to be learning that one. 

Shoes were placed neatly next to the door and his clothes were hung up carefully. Ronodin was particular about order and had told Seth that if he needed to be neat if he wanted to progress well. His eyes were drooping as he brushed his teeth in the small bowl of water he had on a vanity. His shoulders slumped as he started combing his hair. It was grown well past his ears at this point and pretty soon he'd be able to pull it back in a ponytail. 

The bed creaked when he flopped onto it, something he took more pleasure in than Ronodin probably would have approved of. He was so tired though. He lifted his body to pull the covers out and then pulled them over himself. He reached out with his mind to a floor down where he knew the wraiths were and pulled some of their coldness to put out the lamp. 

Seth relaxed his breathing and slipped out of consciousness. 

 

 

 

_A bright house was there in a clearing surrounded by trees. He could tell it was old, but it was in good repair and felt comfortable. Fairies fluttered about him as he made his way to the porch. The door was open to him, and he entered. Paintings and old pictures were all over the walls of a large room with a double staircase in front of him. Rooms branched off on either side, but he was interested in going up._

_Seth walked over to the left staircase and made his way up. He shivered. It was really cold in here, much colder than it was outside._

_The left hallway in the second floor had even more portraits and paintings than the first. These ones seemed more personal, and if Seth had to guess, they were arranged in chronological order. He stopped at one of a young man. He had the beginnings of a mustache and mischievous smile on his face._

_A breeze on his neck pulled him away. There was a woman down the hallway to the right. She floated off the ground, long tendrils of a black dress drifting out from her. Her face looked haunted. Seth found he couldn't move as he stared at her._

_She started drifting towards him, the fabric of her dress reaching out for him. Seth began to panic as he realized he could barely move._ _He was trying to run, but it felt like he was in molasses, caught like a fly in a trap._

_Something clattered from outside. The woman paused, head turning towards the doorway he'd come in at. Seth didn't even look at the sound as he ran towards her and down the stairs between them. He could feel her attention turn back to him, and it made him slow, but the further he got, the less it affected him. He barreled across the front room and out the front door._

_Rather than outside, he found himself in a low stone room, withered zombies standing at attention in rows at the edges of the room. As soon as he arrived, the mummies shuffled towards him, dead to everything. Seth told himself not to be afraid, that somehow being afraid would make them able to hurt him. He spied a door across from him and tore across the room to it._

_As he tried to dart through the bodies, more and more of the undead surrounded him. It was harder to find places to go. Hands grasped at his arms, his legs, his face. He was being pulled down..._

_He tumbled into a field. It was dark and there were weeds all around him. He could barely move, crippling fear taking over his body. His body was locked into a kneeling position, one knee up and one on the ground. His head was locked in place, staring at the ground._

_This paralyzing fear was much worse than that of the woman's. In the house, Seth could still move a little bit. Here, it took all of his effort to just move his head up a centimeter._

_T_ _here was shuffling from in front of him. It took all of Seth's willpower to stop struggling and just turn his eyes to look up. A tall, pale, obviously dead man shuffled towards him. His clothes were in tatters and a wooden nail jutted out from his neck._

_His body shook with effort as he tried to move, but he couldn't. The dead man just kept getting closer and closer, hands reaching out as he approached._

_When the hands finally reached him and wrapped around his neck, Seth could move for just an instant. His vision shifted to focus on something in the background. It was a pond with gazebos around it. He knew it shouldn't be there, but he cried out to the pond regardless._

_"Help! Help me, please!"_

_The hand squeezed and it felt like he was falling forward. Suddenly, Seth was in a different field. Flowers bloomed all around him. The air was sweet and clean and bright. A different pale hand was in front of his face. A hand that was alive. He grasped it heavily, and the body attached pulled him to his feet. The hand connected to a thin arm that connected to a thin, but alive man. He looked like he was recovering from being sick with slightly hollow cheeks and circles under his eyes._

_His eyes were alert though and intense. Seth guessed they would look black in the dark, but in the light they were a deep brown. Long silver hair was gathered into a ponytail._

_The man and Seth regarded each other. Seth felt like he should know him, like he should know the fairy from his previous dream._

_Ronodin's warning about his dreams echoed in Seth's ears again as he thought about asking who the man was. If these people were a part of his past, they should stay in his past, and he was determined not to disappoint his brother._

_Seth screwed his eyes shut and pinched his arm. He winced at the sharp pain. When he opened his eyes the man was still there, watching him. He tried again, squeezing hard. It hurt a lot, but the same sight greeted him._

_Seth turned his back to the man and started to search for a way out. He could see mountains far off behind the man, but the field stretched out in every other direction as far as he could see. The sky was blue and cloudless, but Seth couldn't see a sun or any kind of light source. It was just light._

_There was nothing except the mountains indicating any way he should go. He pushed past the other man, who just watched him without expression. Seth had trod about ten paces when he heard a melodious voice speak._

_"Seth."_

_He stopped and turned his head around. The man was looking over his shoulder back at Seth too. The man turned to face him and slowly made his way to where Seth stood. All Seth could do was watch as the man reached him and continued walking._

_When he saw Seth hadn't followed, he looked back. He titled his head in the direction he'd been walking and said quietly, "Follow me, please."_

_Seth hurried to fall into step beside him. He was still hesitant about anything this man showed him, but he couldn't find a way to wake up. It was in his best interests to keep with this man, plus, somehow, he'd saved Seth. That much he had figured out. This man was somehow connected to the pond._

_"Who are you?" Seth blurted out._

_The man looked over at him, but didn't stop walking. He faced forward again, remaining silent. Seth waited impatiently and was about to ask again when he answered._

_"I'm a friend." Seth almost protested that his response wasn't an answer, but the man continued. "I don't know what to have you call me. It's obvious to me now that you don't remember me, and I don't know what names are safe to give you."_

_The man paused for a moment as Seth thought about what he'd said. This "friend" of his acted like he wasn't a dream. Like they were having a conversation in real time._

_"I can tell that you've grown in your abilities as a shadow charmer, and that losing your identity has changed how you would've grown. We've both been touched by darkness, but you are now embracing it."_

_The field started to slope up, obscuring the view of the mountains. Seth had to hurry his pace to keep up with the man whose stamina obviously was greater than it looked. He felt a little affronted at his words though. He was a shadow charmer! Of course he was supposed to embrace his power! For some reason the words made him uneasy though._

_"My brother says that my power is my strength and I should hone it," Seth declared._

_The man raised an eyebrow at him, looking skeptical._

_"And who is this this brother of yours?"_

_"Ronodin," Seth said, proud._

_The man stopped, his face stricken and gray. Seth stopped too. He was confused at the look the man was giving him. He was studying Seth now sharply._

_"What?" Seth asked. Maybe he didn't like Ronodin. They looked similar though; this man looked like he could be distantly related to Ronodin._

_"Seth," the man began. He stepped closer to Seth, looking at him very intently. "Ronodin is your brother?"_

_Seth could only nod, throat thick. Maybe he shouldn't have said that. Ronodin said that a lot of people were jealous of power and would love to steal theirs. This man could use Seth to get to Ronodin!_

_The man nodded slightly. "How did you meet him?"_

_He felt compelled to tell the truth. The man didn't seem angry, just cautious. "Well, he was there when I when I lost my memories. I was with a girl and she was yelling my name and he appeared. He said he was my brother. Later, when he rescued me, he told me that I had been his apprentice for a while. He started teaching me again."_

_The man nodded again and started up the hill again. They were about half way up when the man spoke again._

_"Did he tell you how you lost your identity?"_

_"My identity?"_

_Another nod. "If it was just your memories that had been lost, many of your core values would have remained the same, though not as strong without memories to support them. With your identity gone, it's like much of your personality was wiped away. Many of your memories are dormant as well because those experiences helped shape you. For instance, you don't remember any of your family or friends. Even though we weren't close, your memories of me are gone because many of those are associated with those of your loved ones._

_"I can tell it was erased by demon magic, though how I cannot be sure without an account. It had to have been done willingly, but I cannot imagine why you would do it. You loved who you were, for the most part."_

_Seth absorbed this information. "So all of the things that made me me are gone?"_

_"More dormant than anything. It's like your identity and all those memories are all locked in a box that you can't access. However, magic is not is absolute, and when it tries to be, it falls apart. They probably leak through most when you're dreaming or distracted."_

_That sounded about right actually. Seth thought about his words. He'd known about the Font of Immortality when he wasn't exactly paying attention, but he couldn't remember anything else about when he'd tried. All of his nightmares seemed familiar to him. It was like he'd been there before._

_Lost in his thoughts, Seth didn't notice when they'd crested the hill until the view was right there. A large palace immediately drew the eye, shimmering like a rainbow. Seth couldn't quite make out what color it was. Other dwellings were constructed or being constructed around the palace. To his left, behind all the buildings, a forest was starting to grow,  young trees with spikes climbing up a mountain face, a lake at their feet. Another grove started on the way down the hill they were standing on. Olive trees and others he didn't recognize snaking down terraces._

_The man next to him sighed. "This used to be my prison. Now's it's my home."_

_Seth looked at him incredulously. "It seems kind of nice for a prison."_

_The man smiled slightly. "It only became this nice when_ they _moved in and rescued me." He gestured towards the valley. Seth couldn't make out much about the figures down there. He was pretty sure he saw some horses though._

_"Who are 'they' and where are we?"_

_"The Fairy Realm."_

_Seth started laughing. The man just stared. Seth's mirth stopped when he saw the man was serious. "Oh. For a moment, I thought you'd heard the lesson I'd had earlier today with Ronodin."_

_A hum and a quiet, "No," followed. The two of them stared at the valley; Seth drank the sight in. If this was the fairy realm, then the horses down there could be unicorns. Apparently the Fairy Realm also used to be a prison? Maybe he should ask Ronodin about that. He just had to think of a way to bring it up without making it obvious that..._

_"A word of advice before you go: don't trust Ronodin."_ _Seth almost protested on his brother's behalf, but surprise and the serious look on the man's face stopped him._

_"Ronodin only really cares about himself and his own purposes." The man's face was grave and his musical voice was almost harsh. "He's using you and your abilities. I don't expect you to believe me right away, but at least stay wary of the things he's telling you, and don't tell him about me. If you need me again, just reach out to me. Think of me and call out 'Elientias.' I will hear you."_

 

 

 

 

Seth woke up, the smell of the grass lingering. He mulled over the experience. It felt like the man was really there, plus he hadn't been able to wake up. It felt real. And according to him, if Seth wanted to talk to him again, all he had to do was call out his name. The name echoed in his head. Elientias. He hoped he wouldn't forget. 

He sat up. What if he forgot? He ran over to his desk, lighting the lamp as he started rummaging through the drawers to find where he put his journal. Finding it finally on the bookshelf, he flipped to the next blank page and wrote the name down: Elientias. He hoped he spelled it right. Granted, it might not matter if the man was really in the fairy realm. He probably typically wrote his name in a fairy language like Silvian. 

Seth remembered the rock that Ronodin had given him nestled under his pillow. He looked at his bed, chewing his lip, wondering if he should tell his brother what had happened. He had promised that he would tell Ronodin if he had another dream, and right away he was considering not telling him. What kind of brother was he? 

Seth gave pause. Silvian. He didn't know where he learned that the language of the fairies was Silvian. It wasn't from today's lesson, but he'd heard it before, even seen what the writing looked like before, not that he'd understood it. Maybe his mysterious friend's words had more merit than he'd initially given credit. 

With a sudden urgency and telling Ronodin forgotten, Seth sat down at his desk and pushed a plant out of the way to write the experience down in his journal. He didn't want to forget anything the man had said, false or not. It could come in handy in the future. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope every one gets all of the references to different places in the dreams. It's so much fun to go through the books and find old adventures that Seth had.  
> The Fairy King is here!!! I gave him a name, so that I wouldn't have to keep writing "the man" over and over again. Also, him telling Seth he was the Fairy King could motivate Seth to tell Ronodin sooner rather than later.  
> Hope you enjoyed!

**Author's Note:**

> This is really just meant to be a one shot, but I might add more dreams in later chapters, not quite amounting to a plot though.   
> The Fablehaven fanbase's presence is really small, and the lack of content has bugged me enough to post some things of my own.


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